Jade Jordan: 'I was trying to wash my colour off me; trying to wash myself white'

Jade Jordan's new book tells the story of one family of colour in Ireland today - and the bitter truths will end any misconceptions that racism does not exist on our shores
Jade Jordan: 'I was trying to wash my colour off me; trying to wash myself white'

Jade Jordan. Photograph Moya Nolan

My book, Nanny, Ma & Me started its journey in 2020. The world had come to a halt and I sat in lockdown like everybody else and wondered what exactly I would do with my time. In the months prior to lockdown I had begun documenting my family history, asking my nanny and ma questions, probing their pasts. I’m a Black Irish woman, the daughter of another Black Irish woman who struggled for a long time because of her skin colour. 

I’m the granddaughter of another woman exposed to the icy winds of society because she loved and married a Black man and had three Black children. The killing of George Floyd and the protests over his murder take place as I’m learning about and documenting my family history. I feel sick, horrified and furious.

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